Varsity Issue 804

The Independent Student Newspaper

Issue 804 Friday 5th February 2016 Published in Cambridge since 1947

9 News: Bridget Kendall

19 Culture: Jack Garratt

26 Theatre: Measure for Measure SIMON LOCK

8 Investigation: Fellows on Grindr

www.varsity.co.uk

Gender pay gap a ‘wake up call’ ● ●

89 per cent of university’s top earners are men ‘Matter of deep concern’, says equality champion Jack Higgins Senior News Editor

A Freedom of Information request by Varsity has revealed that of the 101 staff paid £140,000 or more by the University of Cambridge in 2015, only 11 are women. This follows a similar request last year which revealed that at the University of Oxford “only 8 per cent of its top-paid staff are women”. By comparison, women represent 10.9 per cent of these high earners at Cambridge. The university’s response to the Freedom of Information request said that “these figures relate to salaries paid by the university” to “members of academic or administrative staff of the university” in the “financial year ended 31 July 2015” and excludes “non-salary payments”. In 2014, the University’s Equal Pay review found that the pay gap between men and women across the board had closed by £110, but that women on academic contracts were earning on average £8,400 less than men. At the time, the university said it was making “positive progress” in addressing the pay gap. Responding to the information, the President of Lucy Cavendish College, Jackie Ashley, told Varsity that “these figures should act as a wake up call to the university. It’s not right that in

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2016, only 10 per cent of the top jobs in the university are held by women.” She went on to say that “the problem is not that women are strongly discouraged from entering a career in academia, but they are not encouraged” and that “above all we need a culture change”. “At a time when Cambridge is making great efforts to improve diversity among the student body, it seems odd not to take a look at the academics too.” A spokesperson for the Women in Academia campaign – part of CUSU’s Women’s Campaign – told Varsity that “this information isn’t particularly surprising but we expect that it doesn’t show the full story”. “When we look at employment statistics such as these, it is also important to look at where specific groups such as women of colour, trans women and disabled women fit into the pattern. It would be interesting to see the differences in salary between and among these groups.” The University of Cambridge’s current Gender Equality Champions, Professors Judith Lieu and Anne Davis, recognised the issue when speaking to Varsity but said that the university was actively taking measures to address the problem. Professor Lieu said that the “gender disparity at the top bands of pay is obviously a matter of deep concern.” However, she added that it is a problem which the “university is very

aware of and which it is undertaking work both to analyse and to address”. She continued by saying that the “pay gap has to be seen within the broader context of the opportunities for progression for all members of staff regardless of gender or any other aspect of diversity.” “The significant drop-off of in the percentage of women from undergraduate through to the senior levels is evidence of the historic challenges facing women seeking a career in academic life across the sector (not just Cambridge).” She added that the issue was “multilayered” and that whilst “there is a long way to go” there is “deep commitment among the senior leadership”. “The goal is not just one of numbers and pay packets (although they are important) but of developing a culture where all people can be supported in giving of their best within the institution — which is the only way of ensuring that it continues to be a leading centre of creative intellectual dynamism, attracting and retaining the full range of talent.” To this end, Professor Lieu said that the university is taking “a number of active steps” to combat this, such as “active participation in the Athena SWAN Charter which was set up to support women’s careers in the STEM subjects and has now been extended to include the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.” Continued on page 4

Over the moon: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at Senate House on Wednesday to accept his Honorary Degree

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